Pages

Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Ravenwing!

It took all month to finish, but here are some (alot) of pictures of my completed Ravenwing Attack Squad from the Dark Vengeance Starter Set.  One of these days, when I have more time, I'll discuss how I did these, but since it's already 30 minutes to midnight, my brain has spewed out all it will give.  Enjoy the pics!












Wednesday, October 31, 2012

October Models Finished!

It's been a crazy month hobby-wise to be sure.  It took about two weeks in September to finish my first ten tactical marines for the Dark Angels Third Company, but it took literally all of October to finish five tactical marines and the Company Master Nathanael.  I have no really good explanation for how that happened, since September was way crazier in every other way.  But that's beside the point, because I now have a legal Warhammer 40,000 army! It may be small—only one full-sized, fully-equipped squad and a leader—but 1 HQ and 2 Troops choices are all you need to play, right?

Here are some pictures of the squad and the Master










Next month I'll either be painting up more tactical marines to get two full-sized, fully-equipped squads, or I'll take a break from power armor.  Oh yeah...  The wings of Redemption may finally arrive.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Build Order

In the post I just put up about completing my second five-man squad I mentioned having 15 more Tactical Marines to complete to round out my core of 25, and it got me thinking about the order in which I want to complete the rest of the models I currently have to work with.

I'm sure for most people, this isn't really a "thought-out" process; you kind of just do it and build the squads you feel like building and go about your business. But maybe you do try to plan out what you will work on, and hopefully this gives you a little perspective. I've built 4 full armies before this one (5 if you include my Warhammer Fantasy army), so I know myself well enough to know this plan should work.

So you get an idea of what I still have on the sprue, it's (mostly from the DV set): 15 Tactical Marines (including options); a power-armor (PA) Librarian; a PA Chaplain (which is built but not based or primed); a PA Company Master (same as the Chappy); 5 Deathwing Terminators; and 3 Ravenwing Bikers.

I recently found a squad of 5 Scouts with bolters and a heavy bolter that I can easily repaint for Dark Angels, so they're in too.  I'm also working on getting some armor in the form of a Predator or a Dreadnought, but since it's not here yet (or even purchased), it won't count.

Given all of those models to complete (26 in total), my plan to complete them is as follows:
5 Tactical Marines (4 with bolters and 1 with plasma cannon)
PA Chaplain (limited edition model from DV set, with plasma pistol)
5 Scouts (4 with bolters and 1 with heavy bolter)
5 Tactical Marines (1 Sergeant, 2 with bolters, 1 with missile launcher and 1 with special weapon)
PA Librarian (from DV set)
5 Deathwing Terminators (4 with storm bolters and 1 with assault cannon)
5 Tactical Marines (1 Sergeant, 3 with bolters and 1 with special weapon)
3 Ravenwing Bikers (1 with plasma gun)
PA Company Master or Vehicle
Vehicle or PA Company Master

I've deliberately chosen this order (which may change, but probably won't), for the simple reason that it will keep me interested. After the first set of Tactical Marines I'll probably be tired of normal DA power armor and I'll need the Chaplain to have a minimum Primary Detachment. After that it'll be the Scouts to go completely away from power armor for a bit.  Then it kind of rotates through the pattern again: PA squad, PA leader, non-PA squad.  The difference will be the last rotation where the leader and non-PA squad will be switched, because I don't need 3 HQ choices (nor can I use them all at once), so there's no point completing them all before the rank-and-file are done.

I hope you've gotten some insight into the mind of a mad-man (too much time interrogating beneath The Rock I think).  Comment below if you've done something different or have any thoughts on my approach.

Quote of the Day: There is only the Emperor, and he is our shield and protector.

Second Squad Complete!

I am proud to announce that I have completed the second set of Space Marines for my Dark Angels Third Company in record time—for me anyways.  Last Wednesday I began constructing half of the Tactical Squad from the Dark Vengeance Starter Set, including the plasma gunner and the Sergeant. As of yesterday morning (so 5 days later), I completely finished them!  Here are some pictures.




I have to say, I absolutely adore the Dark Vengeance models—the poses, the cast quality, everything!  Finishing this squad has really inspired me to keep working on these guys.

My next set of models will be the other half of the DV Tactical Squad, which will give me 15 models total and include a Sergeant with plasma pistol, a plasma gun, and a plasma cannon.  Eventually I'll also include the other ten Tactical Marines I got (the normal SM box), from which I'll be able to get two more Sergeants, a missile launcher, a flamer and a melta gun (or a second plasma, haven't decided yet). That'll total 25 models from which I can build three squads: 2 ten-man squads with a Sergeant, heavy weapon and special weapon each, and a five-man squad with a Sergeant and special weapon.  This will be the core of my army in every game I play, so I'm stoked to get them done!

Monday, September 10, 2012

First Models Complete!

Hello Readers!

I am proud to announce that the first set of models for my Dark Angel's Third Company army are fresh off the line!  Here are some quick pictures




There are only two issues I have with how these turned out: the shiny armor (from the green glaze), and the bland bases (which will be static grassed later).  Other than that, I'm stoked to see these models finished, and I can't wait to work on the rest of the 1,200 points I have collected so far!

Look for another post later detailing how I painted these marines!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Why Dark Angels?

I'm feeling very deep today so I decided to answer a question I've been asking myself since this project was first born in my head a couple months ago.  That question, if you haven't already figured it out, is
"Why Dark Angels?"

The short answer is cost-effectiveness, but let me explain further.

When I decided months and months ago—all the way back in May—that I was ready to jump back into the Games Workshop hobby, I set a few rules for myself before I even began to consider what I would play.

  1. I had to start a new army, to coincide with the release of a new edition of the rules and my new start to the hobby at large.
  2. I had to do as much as possible to save money while building this army, meaning that I had to start taking cost-effectiveness into account.
  3. I would sell my Chaos Space Marine army (1,850 points) as well as anything else I could, and the money for that would be free to use to build the new army.
  4. The new army could not be inherently evil—so no Chaos (Space Marines or Daemons) and no Dark Eldar.

So I had to pick a new army based on these rules, plus the guidelines that I had to enjoy painting the models, I had to like the background, and I had to be able to tell a story with the army I created.  Already a couple different armies were knocked out, specifically Tyranids, Orks, and Imperial Guard, as well as the aforementioned Chaos and Dark Eldar.

Around this time the new Necron models came out, introducing Canoptek Wraiths and Spyders, and new special character models.  I love these models, so I was immediately drawn to the Necron.  The army is very cost-effective, had a brand new set of models as well as a very recently released Codex, and I new I would enjoy painting them, especially after painting a test model.  I love the background and the potential it gives to story-telling, but it just didn't feel like enough.  The rank and file models aren't detailed enough and don't allow enough room for personalization.  There are plenty off financially viable units, but not enough that suit my style of play or enough diversity in each Codex entry to make the force as a whole effective enough for me.  And I couldn't find enough justification for a race of aliens trapped in metal bodies, with no other mission than to subjugate the stars, to say that they aren't "evil" the way everyone sees them.  So Necron were out.

The Tau Empire was another viable option.  A Tau Empire can be created quickly and easily using a few boxes, but I've tried multiple times before to create a Tau army, and I just got bored making it.  Tau were out before they left the gate.

The next group I came to were Eldar.  I had painted a few Eldar models in my day, including the only commission I've ever done, so I was confident I would enjoy painting them, especially when Finecast versions of the Aspect Warriors were released.  I also love the background of a race trying to fix a past mistake (one that created an entirely new Chaos God, but you know, no big deal), and I loved the tragic nature of their curent place in the 40k universe.  The play style again fit me, and there is more space for internal diversity than with Necron.  Personalization was also a plus, being that Eldar are a race obsessed with personal pleasure and aesthetics.  Unfortunately though, given all these positives, the final decision came down to cost-effectiveness and the models themselves.  To get the army I would want would have cost too much given the current state of the model range, and there were too many models that I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate aesthetically.

This, of course, left me with one option: power armor.  I'd already knocked out Chaos Space Marines, but if you think about it, I still had Space Marines, Blood Angels, Black Templars, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Grey Knights, and even Sisters of Battle to choose from in the "power armor" category, which is by far the most cost-effective in the whole Games Workshop system.  But even here, I could hack away a few.  I never liked the Grey Knights—the models and the Codex—and that has never changed. The Sisters of Battle are the least cost-effective of the group right now for no other reason than the entire army is still metal; besides that, there is really no diversity in the units available in the Codex.  Black Templars were out because I played them as my first army and felt like I was cursed on the field, having never won a game in the two years I used them.  They also desperately need a new Codex and I couldn't find any rumors of one coming out in the foreseeable future.

Blood Angels are cool.  I love the models, I love the tragic nature of the Chapter, I always loved painting red, writing stories about BA are common because it's easy, and they're abbreviation is BA.  There was really nothing to hate about this Chapter for me, but I can't get over the blood thirst that has consumed the Chapter and its successors so deeply that they have occasionally killed innocent people in their rage.  That nagged me to no end and ultimately pushed me from the Chapter.

Space Wolves are also cool, especially with the most recent release for the model range.  But for right now, I'm not a fan of the sculpts for the Grey Hunters/Blood Claws kit, which makes up the majority of an army.  I also don't like painting the color scheme, regardless of the iterations I've found for it.

The Space Marines generic Codex would have had me, even though everyone and their mother plays Space Marines.  SM's give the most diverse set of unit options, are incredibly cost-effective, and I could either make my own Chapter with its own history and background or play an established Chapter and create my own story within that.  I was set there and was totally ready to start building my Chapter, the Steel Scythes, until...

The Dark Vengeance set was announced.

Yep, that's right, cost-effectiveness won the day for the DA. First, I already have the Codex.  Second, green is my favorite color.  Third, the Dark Angels are the First Legion, a concept that deeply appeals to me.  Fourth, for how well established the Chapter is in GW lore, there is a ton of room for my own story.  Fifth, rumors of a new codex and new models on the horizon tickled my fancy.  What really did it in, though, was the background.  As a deeply-rooted Christian redemption stories carry alot of meaning for me, and the Dark Angels story is nothing if not one of seeking redemption.  The Dark Angels may not seem trustworthy to outsiders, but in my mind they are the most human of the Space Marines; they have flaws, and they know it and live with it, and they seek, day in and day out, to be worthy of their creator and have the sins of their past forgotten.

So there you have it, I play to my faith.  I didn't know if I should say that in this context, but there it is.  Maybe you're reading this and think I'm crazy for following that thought pattern to arrive at my new 40k army, but maybe it's got you thinking about why you play yours.  Feel free to add your two cents in the comments below.

A Note on the Name

As my first Dark Angels models sit drying on my desk, I thought I should take a moment and discuss why this blog is entitled "The Song of Redemption."

First, there is no "song" associated with the building of, or story attached to, the 3rd Company of the Dark Angels.  I use the word song in this case the way it was used in the middle ages and even before.  Before film, stories were told through the theatre.  Before the theatre, stories were told by bards, who would accompany tales of great heroes and evil villains with music and basic choreography.  Sometimes an entire story was told as the singing of a song.  If you have heard of the book series by George R. R. Martin entitled The Song of Ice and Fire- off of which the Game of Thrones HBO series was created- you have some idea what I'm talking about.

Thus, the Song of Redemption isn't a song, but a story of heroism, nobility, honor, and repentance.  The story of the 3rd Company will unfold as I build and play with this army.  It will write its own song, of tragedy, woe, victory, and death.

The story is yet unwritten, but the song will be sung.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Introduction

Welcome to The Song of Redemption: A Warhammer 40,000 Dark Angels Blog.

I've been part of the Games Workshop Hobby for around 11 years now, back when W40k was still in Third Edition, the Tau weren't yet called an empire, the threat of Necrontyr was a figment of nightmare, and even the Inquisition and it's dedicated forces were only usable with homemade rules.

My first army was the Black Templars, back when the rules were from Codex: Armageddon and needed a copy of Codex: Space Marines to actually use. I played them for a couple years and realizing I simply couldn't win a game, I sought out a new army with which to find glory on the field. This, of course, lead me down the path of Chaos, a path on which I was more than fairly successful—as though to affirm I had the right idea!

I put all of that, and the vast majority of the hobby, aside when I went to college 4 years ago.  I still followed the hobby regularly, watching as Fourth Edition became Fifth Edition, Finecast was introduced, and new ways of painting and modeling were created by GW.  I briefly dipped my toe in the water a couple of years ago, trying to revamp that Chaos army while I recovered from knee surgery, but it never got off the ground.

Now that I have graduated, and an entirely new Edition of the rules has been released, I have decided to truly make a comeback into the hobby.  I sold my Chaos Space Marines to fund what you will see here in the days, months, and years to come.  My hope is to build a fully functional Dark Angels army and play regularly again.

That's why I started this blog.  As an amateur writer, it will give me an opportunity to hone my craft as I describe what I'm doing, and as a seasoned hobbyist it gives me a sense of accountability to finish the piles of plastic that are already starting to build up on my desk.

On this blog you will find posts for each of the units I add to the army, battle reports, discussions of my thoughts on tactics, the hobby, etc. and most significantly for me, fiction based around the 3rd Company of the Dark Angels under Company Master Nathanael and their search for redemption in the eyes of the Emperor.

I hope you enjoy what will come, and maybe some day I will meet you in the field, and we will cross blades, and glory and honor will be decided in blood.

For the Emperor and the Lion!